China defends N.Korea policy on warship

June 29, 2010 12:00 am

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By , BEIJING, Jun 29 – China on Tuesday defended its policy on North Korea after US President Barack Obama suggested Beijing had turned a blind eye to Pyongyang\’s actions following the sinking of a South Korean warship.

"We don\’t favour either side and we decide our position on the merits of the issue. China\’s position and efforts on this issue brook no accusations," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in response to Obama\’s comments.

"We don\’t do anything to fan the flames."

At the Group of 20 summit in Canada at the weekend, Obama said China must not show "willful blindness" over Pyongyang\’s "belligerent behaviour", noting he had spoken bluntly to Chinese President Hu Jintao on the matter.

The English-language Global Times said Tuesday that the US leader should have taken Beijing\’s concerns into consideration before "making irresponsible and flippant remarks about China\’s role in the region".

The newspaper, noting Beijing\’s role as host of the on-off six-nation talks on North Korea\’s nuclear disarmament, said: "It is thus not China that is turning a blind eye to what North Korea has done and has not done."

"Instead, it is the leaders of countries such as the US that are turning a blind eye on purpose to China\’s efforts," said the commentary in the paper, which is run by the Communist Party\’s mouthpiece, the People\’s Daily.

The United States and Seoul have led a push for a UN censure of Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that killed 46 sailors, but the Security Council has yet to issue a formal condemnation.

China, a close ally of the impoverished North, has been reluctant to endorse a UN condemnation over the sinking until it has assessed the evidence in the incident for itself.